


Partition

by esme_green



Category: Iron Man movieverse
Genre: F/M, Handcuffs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-07-25
Updated: 2009-07-25
Packaged: 2017-11-28 17:49:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/677150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/esme_green/pseuds/esme_green
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pepper has been publicly embarrassed countless times in the last ten years.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Partition

 

It was hard, working around a rock star super genius all day long, for Pepper to stay grounded. To make time to focus on her own life, her own needs.

Her solution was to, very occasionally, date. Friends set her up on blind dates that most times went wrong but occasionally went right...ish. A guy in a bar who didn't have a ring tan might hit on her and she'd let him buy her a drink or two. The man running on the next treadmill at the gym might see her there a few mornings in a row and strike up a conversation.

It was nice, being reminded that away from the crazy zone of Tony there were nice men, normal men, who just wanted a chance with her.

And, occasionally, she'd give them that chance. It wasn't a recipe for a long term relationship, but she'd given up on that idea long ago. An occasional fling fit into her schedule, brought her relief, kept her grounded, and frankly, once he realized she was a nice pair of legs with no desire for a relationship, most of the time the guy was the one to walk away.

Aaron was a genuinely nice guy, a friend of a friend of a friend, and yeah, maybe she'd rushed the physical side of things a bit because he was hot and also a good person, and it was so rare to see those two traits together. But he was, she sensed, being patient with her, waiting for her to come around, or give a little when it came to the demands of her job, or some damn thing.

Really, she should have sacked up and ended it herself, she thought. He wanted something she couldn't…wouldn't give.

Unfortunately, Aaron had come to this realization right in the middle of some particularly enjoyable sex. He'd handcuffed her right leg and left wrist to opposite corners of her bed, and was just getting to the good part when her phone rang.

He froze.

"Ignore it," she breathed, and he grinned, a little too happy, as he bent his head again.

Her PDA rang. Her cell phone rang. Her house phone started to ring. For gods' sake, her intercom. She didn't even think that had a ringtone.

"God," She groaned, trying to ignore it all and failing miserably. "I kinda have to get that."

Aaron was not happy. Propping himself above her on the bed, he said, "He's not your life."

"No," said Pepper, and saw Aaron's hazel eyes holding on to something she had no intention of reaching for. "Except…he kinda is."

That didn't go over well.

"Fine," Aaron bit out, pushing off the bed and going to find his clothes. "You know what? Fine. You're welcome to him."

"Aaron, I'm sorry…" She did her best to lift up from the bed, but she was still cuffed in place.

"I don't have time to play games, or wait for your biological clock to kick in, or whatever the hell, Ginny," he said, standing in the middle of the room, tugging on his pants. "I want something real, and you're not it."

She flinched at that, but didn't say anything. Honestly, it was better if he just went. Except…

Swallowing her pride, she called out, "The keys? Where the hell are the keys?"

"Bedside table," he called back from the living room. "You can reach."

And then she heard her front door slam. He was gone.

Damn. She slumped back on the bed and ignored the tug on her arm, her leg. Really, in a case like this, she shouldn't feel relief. Still. "Fuck," she said, and closed her eyes for a moment.

And her phone went off again. She let it ring, closing her eyes, wondering what it was she was giving up in Aaron. Handsome, gainfully employed, all-around nice guy and kinky sex partner Aaron.

"God, I'm an idiot," she said out loud.

"Well, Potts," Tony said from the doorway, ignoring her shriek. "I wouldn't say an idiot."

"Tony!" She was naked. Naked, in front of her boss, handcuffed to her own bed. "Out! NOW! Tony—"

Unfortunately, said boss had no shame. "Ease up," he said, striding over to the bedside table and picking up the keys. "How many times have you done this for me?"

"I could reach those," she bit out.

"Of course you could." Strangely, he wasn't really ogling her, just focusing on her ankle as he unlocked one cuff, then methodically rounded the bed to remove the restraint from her wrist.

Immediately she grabbed the quilt from the floor and pulled it up over herself.

"That's the difference between us, Pepper," he said, grinning as he tucked both cuffs and keys into her bedside table drawer and sat down on the side of the bed. "We're both hot, we're both driven, we're both a bit nasty in the sack—" He tried to duck, but she smacked him anyway. "But you, Pepper, will always be able to reach the keys."

"What the hell do you want, Tony?" All the fight went out of her on that last breath.

"I was worried," he said. "You weren't answering your phone."

"And you were trying to reach me because…"

"I'm going out of town for a few days."

"To parts unknown? No need to prep the jet?"

"Something like that."

"Fine," she said. "Stay in touch. I'll see you when you get back."

He grinned and stood. "Not if I see you first," he said. "And when I say 'see', I mean I'm going to be trying harder to…"

"Goodbye, Tony. Try not to kill yourself."

He shook his head. "He didn't deserve you, Potts."

"It's a two-way street," she said.

"It's never that simple," he replied, and left.

In the end, she kept dating, but she threw the cuffs away.

 

 

 

 

END

 

 


End file.
